


puddle jumping

by water_poet



Category: Brave (2012), Disney - All Media Types, Disney Princesses, Frozen (2013)
Genre: Accents, Aged-Up Character(s), Ambiguous/Open Ending, Ballroom Dancing, Blushing, F/F, Falling In Love, Gay, Opposites Attract, Protective Parents, Secret Relationship, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, since Merida's only sixteen in the movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-04-05 19:28:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19046860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/water_poet/pseuds/water_poet
Summary: "When you fall in love, it is discovering the ocean after years of puddle jumping." - Sarah KayIn which Elsa falls in love, quite without meaning to.





	puddle jumping

It begins in a ballroom at the summer gala as the fireflies blaze like stars in the courtyard.  
  
She's still not fond of parties, but Arendale needs a trade passage through the Southern Isles so she's dressed in gold and purple and smiling gently like a portrait-perfect queen.  
  
The wine is bitter and the conversation saccharine, but she still manages to slip away onto a salty seaward balcony for a few fleeting moments of wind-spotted silence.  
  
She's apparently not the first to have had this idea. There's a girl there already, hair twisted and coiled into an intricate updo that glows scarlet in the candlelight of the ballroom.  
  
"Good evening" Elsa says, and the girl turns, startled.  
  
"G'evening" she replies, accent syrup-thick and mead-sharp.  
  
Elsa approaches the balcony railing, trailing her fingertips across the blue flowers creeping their way up the wooden beams and overhang.   
  
"Why aren't you inside, enjoying the party?" she asks.  
  
The girl shrugs. "Not me idea a' fun, I s'pose. Me mum brought me. Says it's for experience or some rubbish like that" she explains, picking at a loose thread of embroidery on her dress. "Wha' about you?"  
  
There's something about the crass princess that makes Elsa want to laugh with her. "I'm the hostess" she responds, and the round-faced princess turns red and drops into a sloppy half-curtsy.  
  
"Pleased to meet you, your majesty!" she says, and Elsa knows she's not used to being so polite.  
  
"I'm princess Merida of Dunbroch" she continues. "Big islands 'cross the sea, lotsa trees and the like. Pretty far, I s'pose, not exactly a vacation spot - "  
  
"I'd love to visit" Elsa says.  
  
Merida's rambling ceases abruptly, and she straightens and smiles and for a long moment looks like a different person.  
  
"We would be delighted to have you as a guest in our kingdom, your highness" she says, the words as stiff and uncomfortable as she must be.   
  
Elsa giggles (even though she never giggles) and offers a hand to the princess. "Come with me. And please, call me Elsa"  
  
Merida's hand is small and hot and there are callouses on her thumb and forefinger the brush against Elsa's skin. She leads her out of the ballroom and into the hall, where a thousand kings and queens of old stare solemnly down at them as if they know, and disapprove.  
  
Their conversation melts into the night like butterflies. Merida tells tales of ghosts and curses and fantasy that, were Elsa herself not a fairytale, she never would have believed. The princess seems so excited talking about it, rounded hands gesturing excitedly as she recounts her tale.  
  
Elsa listens, long since tired of being the one to speak.  
  
From the throne room, a merry tune starts up. Merida smiles like she knows the song, and maybe she does.   
  
"Would you like to dance?" Elsa asks, and even in the dim light of the hallway she can see Merida flush.  
  
"'m not sure I should, Elsa" she says, placing a hand on Elsa's shoulder. "I'm not much of a dancer"  
  
The queen laughs. "I'll guide you"  
  
She does, and they dance in the hallway as the portraits glare and the music fades into the hum of crickets and the sea crashing on the shore.

* * *

The trade conference begins the next morning, and Merida stays. As the chamber empties for the day, she lingers.  
  
"Care to go for a stroll through town, Princess Merida?" Elsa asks, and Merida nods as if she can't quite speak.  
  
In the market they buy exotic fruits and flower garlands and they sit by the fountain and clap along to the children's games.  
  
"Ye know your people" Merida says.  
  
Elsa only nods. "I owe it to them. Don't you?"  
  
Merida laughs. "Mum handles the kingdom. I jus' let her. Not much of a people person, s'pose"  
  
"You got along with me" Elsa says playfully, nudging Merida's arm as she stands. "We should get back. I still need to prepare for the banquet tonight. I trust you'll be there?"  
  
"If ye want me to be, your highness" Merida murmurs thickly, not meeting Elsa's eyes.   
  
"If course! Besides, the sunrise from the East Wing is stunning in the summer" Elsa says, lacing her hand into Merida's and leading her back towards the castle.

* * *

Merida is not like other princesses. She wears dresses with stains, gets twigs and leaves in her hair, eats like a fully-grown soldier, and snorts like a hog when she laughs.  
  
Elsa, of course, falls completely in love.  
  
The trades go well (these days, no one dares to speak against her for fear she'll freeze their kingdom) and she spends her few free hours in the garden with Merida while she spouts old Dunbroch legends or in the library as Merida dozes while Elsa studies up on foreign affairs.  
  
She suspects the others are getting suspicious, especially the silver-haired, sharp queen of Dunbroch, but her solitude saves her and Arendale's guests are kind enough to leave the women be.  
  
In time, they hide their embraces in the shadows because ice powers are one thing but kissing a girl is another entirely and anyway they're both too familiar with consequences to be bold.   
  
The summer days blend into cool mornings in the conference room and lazy sun-spotted afternoons by the brook and hot evenings in the ballroom, heavy with food and wine and music, and breathless, secret nights.  
  
The evening before Merida's due to leave, they're curled around each other amidst the silk and chiffon of the queen's bed.  
  
"Ye like girls?" Merida asks, suddenly, her voice crisp in the dim sounds of night. It's neither accusatory nor clueless. She asks the question as if enquiring about Elsa's favorite color or dress.  
  
At this point, Elsa isn't fazed anymore. She laughs and shakes her head noncommittally, staring out through the window and into the starry sky as her thumb runs back and forth over Merida's pale, freckled shoulder.  
  
"I don't know. I've never thought about it that much" she admits, fixing her eyes back on Merida. "But I like you"  
  
Merida stares for a long moment before she smiles. Elsa leans into the embrace, all caramel and autumn wind, as Merida's hands cup her face, rough from hours of archery against her porcelain skin but gentle as snowflakes on her cheek.

* * *

It ends in the morning sun as the waves lap the sides of the dock like saltwater kisses.  
  
The departure is formal, with bows and curtsies. In a fairytale, Merida would be a prince who would declare his undying love to the queen and they would wed the next day with flowers and bells and laughter.  
  
But it's not, so they part ways with a lingering hug and a promise of something in the sun-blurred horizon.

* * *

It begins again in the spring, when Queen Elsa of Arendale arrives in Dunbroch just as the flowers have started to bloom.

**Author's Note:**

> See also "She Keeps Me Warm" by Mary Lambert.


End file.
